1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a current collecting apparatus suitable for supplying power to a transport vehicle, particularly, a railway vehicle driven by a linear motor system or a train using a magnetic levitation system.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Generally, a transport vehicle such as a railway vehicle driven by a linear motor system or a train adopting a magnetic levitation system receives power from a trolley rail laid on ground track or a high level track on which the vehicle travels and connected to an electric power supply. The power is supplied to such a transport vehicle through a current collecting apparatus. Note that the trolley rail is also known as a third rail.
When the transport vehicle travels along curved tracks, a relative variance results between the center line of the current collecting apparatus in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the transport vehicle on which the current collecting apparatus is installed and the center line of the trolley rail in a transverse direction of the vehicle body. In a system in which the current collecting apparatus comes in contact with both side surfaces of the trolley rail through a couple of collector shoes, the trolley rail is sandwiched between the two collector shoes through which power is received. In such a system, such relative variance makes contact pressure put by the collector shoes on the surfaces of the trolley rail unbalanced. In some cases, one of the collector shoes is even moved away from the trolley rail. The current collecting apparatus can be designed so that the contact between the collector shoes and the surfaces of the trolley rail is sustained even if such relative variance results. In such a case, however, inclination may be occurred between the contact surfaces of the collector shoes and the side surfaces of the trolley rail, resulting in reduced contact area between the collector shoes and the trolley rail. In addition, the reduced contact may give rise to partial abrasion of the collector shoes and the trolley rail.